Improvement in insoles for boots and shoes



C. F.v HILL.

Insole for Boots and Shoes.

'NO. 167,762, Patented Sept.14,1875.

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N. PETERS. PHOTO-LITHOGRAPHER, WASHINGTON D O UNITED STATES PATENTQFFIGE.

CHARLES F. HILL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND, ASSIGNOR TO HIMSELF AND GEORGED. HILL, OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN INSOLES FOR-BOOTS AND SHQES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 167,762., datedSeptember 14, 1875; application filed May 17, 1875.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatI, CHARLES F. HILL, of Baltimore city, State ofMaryland, have invented a new and Improved Insole for Boots and Shoes;and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exactdescription of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawingforming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a plan viewof the sole, having transverse slits; Fig. 2, a section of amodification of Fig. 1, showing diagonal slits; Fig. 3, a side elevationof the die for cutting the slits in the sole.

The object of this invention is to increase the flexibility of the solesof boots and shoes; and it consists in cutting in the insole or lastbigsole, or both, slits transversely to the same at the bend of the sole.

In the drawing, A represents an insole having the transverse slits a atthe bend of the foot. Said slits are cut by dies parallel with eachother, and extend from the toe to the shank. In cutting the said slits,moreover, I may cut them at right angles to the plane of the sole andstraight through, or may cut them diagonally to the same, as illustratedin Fig. 2. B is the die which cuts the said slits, and it consists'in ahead, I), provided with a suitable handle, and having alternating knivesc and plates (1, which are tightly clamped in said head by abinding-screw, e, the said blades being varied in length and arranged inorder corresponding to the outline of the ball of a sole, so that thelongest blade shall be in or nearthe center, and the shortest at therespective extremes of the series. It is obvious that these knives maybe held by other means than the die described.

In applying my invention, either the lastingsole or the insole, or both,may be constructed according to the principle of the same, and by meansof the said improvement the sole of the boot or shoe is rendered moreflexible and easy to the foot, and much of the disagreeable creakingnoise prevented.

I am aware of the fact that it is not new to construct an insole withperforations, which communicate with a subjacent air-chamber forventilating purposes, and I therefore disclaim this idea, and confinemyselfto my slitted insole.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, is-

1. As a new article of manufacture, an insole having transverse slits toincrease its flexibility, substantially as described.

2. The knife-blades c 0, arranged in an order corresponding to theoutline of the ball of a sole, so that the longest blades shall be inthe center, and the shortest at the respective extremes of the series,substantially as and for the purpose specified.

CHARLES F. HILL.

Witnesses G. E. SANGSTER, WM. D. ELDRIDGE.

